The process of the invention describes the production of thin ceramic layers consisting of pure titanium dioxide or of titanium dioxide combined with other metal oxides at a temperature of 100.degree. C. within 5 minutes on ceramic and metal.
The production of thin ceramic layers from titanium dioxide is known. The best known processes, like the process of the invention, start with a hydrolyzable titanium compound, then hydrolyze this compound and dissolve the precipitate generated by the hydrolysis first with an acid, thereby creating a sol. Up to this point, the inventive process is identical with the known art.
In the processes known in the art, the sol is now transformed into a gel. This is, for instance, achieved by concentrating the sol. When the gel is concentrated further, it crystallizes and forms cracks. For this reason, a surfactant is added to the gel for obtaining a crack-free layer. At a temperature of approximately 400.degree. C. which, of course, has to be maintained over an extended period of time, the titanium dioxide particles fuse together and the surfactant evaporates or decomposes. A nanocrystalline titanium dioxide layer remains.
This process is energy intensive and time consuming and can be rather disadvantageous for practical applications, especially since the resulting strength of the titanium dioxide layers is not very high.